The introduction of foreign organic hydrocarbons into the environment in recent years, as in
the widespread use of antibiotics, has resulted in the evolution of novel adaptive …

The structure and function of transposable elements that code for catabolic pathways
involved in the biodegradation of organic compounds are reviewed. Seven of these …

The recent findings of various mobile catabolic genes have provided some insight into the
evolution of microbial degradation systems for xenobiotic compounds. The catabolic genes …

The structure of a transposon specifying the biodegradation of chlorobenzoate contaminants
is described. Tn5271 is a 17-kilobase (kb) transposon that resides in the plasmid or …

Bacteria adapt rapidly to environmental stimuli, such as exposure to xenobiotics. Mobile
genetic elements (MGEs) play a major role in such bacterial adaptation, via the dispersal of …

The characterization of bacteria that degrade organic xenobiotics has revealed that they can
adapt to these compounds by expressing 'novel'catabolic pathways. At least some of them …

The conjugative TOL plasmid (75 Mdal), specifying biodegradation of xylenes, toluene, and
trimethylbenzene derivatives, undergoes dissociation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO to a …

Similar to the New World explorers of the 16th and 17th century, microbiologists today find
themselves at the edge of unknown territory. It is estimated that only 0.1–1% of …

The nucleotide sequence of the biphenyl catabolic transposon Tn 4371 has been completed
and analyzed. It confirmed that the element has a mosaic structure made of several building …

Alcaligenes eutrophus (Ralstonia eutropha) NH9, isolated in Japan, utilizes 3-
chlorobenzoate as its sole source of carbon and energy. Sequencing of the relevant region …